November 15, 2023
Getting started with Icon Horse
Icon Horse makes it incredibly easy to get high-quality favicons for any website. Whether you're building a bookmark manager, a dashboard, or any application that needs to display website icons, Icon Horse has you covered.
Basic usage
The simplest way to use Icon Horse is through our straightforward URL structure:
https://icon.horse/icon/example.com
This will return the best available favicon for the given domain.
The API automatically handles:
- Different favicon formats (ICO, PNG, SVG)
- Multiple sizes and resolutions
- Fallbacks when favicons aren't available
- Caching for optimal performance
Advanced options
Size specification
You can request specific sizes by adding size parameters:
https://icon.horse/icon/example.com?size=32
Fallback behavior
Control what happens when a favicon isn't found:
https://icon.horse/icon/example.com?fallback_text=EX
Integration examples
HTML img tag
<img src="https://icon.horse/icon/github.com" alt="GitHub favicon" width="16" height="16">
CSS background
.site-icon {
background-image: url('https://icon.horse/icon/stackoverflow.com');
background-size: contain;
width: 20px;
height: 20px;
}
JavaScript fetch
const response = await fetch('https://icon.horse/icon/reddit.com');
const iconBlob = await response.blob();
const iconUrl = URL.createObjectURL(iconBlob);
Performance considerations
Icon Horse is built for performance:
- Global CDN: Icons are served from locations worldwide
- Smart caching: Frequently requested icons are cached at the edge
- Optimized formats: We serve the most appropriate format for each request
- Batch processing: Perfect for applications that need many icons
Pro features
Upgrade to Icon Horse Pro for additional features:
- Higher rate limits
- Priority support
- Advanced customization options
- Analytics and usage insights
Start using Icon Horse today and never worry about broken or missing favicons again!